ToyCon 2016 Event Review and Aftermath

We were invited by iflix to ToyCon 2016 + Pop Life FanXpreience. It is an event which is different from previous ToyCons since it is now held at the SMX Convention Center in Mall of Asia plus the size of the convention seems to be 3x bigger. As someone who had seen the event grew I would like to share my personal experience and some suggestions.

I hope that the organizers would take things here constructively. This is the first time that I would be doing this so please bear with me everyone.

Venue

I would say the venue was bigger and better. It avoided a ToyCon wherein people can no longer move. What can you expect in the past year the population of people who went to the event rose to more than 20,000 for 3 days. This time the bigger and better venue can accommodate them all. It provided ample space for everyone to experience what the event is all about.

Event Concept

Pop Life FanXperience was something new. It provided fans a look into the world of popular culture, mostly Western though. What can you expect from ToyCon, it is an event for toy collectors and fans of Western shows. There were very little room for other culture particularly anime and cosplay. Although there are shops where you can buy anime toys, figures and items most of the booths were dedicated to Western fandom. This is not a bad thing though.

I do not know if the huge Votez V was a great attraction or not. For me there was an opportunity lost here. If there were some added effects like a Voltez V cosplayers and the like where people can actually interact with them. It could have been a bigger attraction.

The huge space in Hall 4 was also a question for me. Was it there to accommodate people or was it just an space where there was too much space and too little to put. I appreciate the fact that people can take photos with those fabulous status.

Stan Lee's exhibit was superb and it is perhaps the single most visited part of the event. Although there are tons of items that are showcased it seems to have missed interactivity. People just view the exhibit but in some way for me it seems to have failed to connect. Perhaps some audio and activities could have been added. Well, just a thought.

Guests

I think ToyCon really studied their guests. I am not a fan yet of Game of Thrones and for me Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman actor Dean Cain was too old school. They have fans but for the new generation they would not know who he is, in fact Heneral Luna is more popular than he is. I can hear the large applause and chanting of people when he goes up on stage.

Every year ToyCon comes up with guests and for me I would never question their judgment. These organizers know what they are doing and for whatever reason they decide on who to guest I know they know the reason behind it.

Booths and Exhibits

I really like how they arrange the booths putting it on one corner, however lack of booths on the other side might have prevented other people from exploring the other parts of ToyCon.

Wow this is simply amazing. You have missed your greatest opportunity to buy something worth the price if you did not went to ToyCon 2016. There are tons of booth with lots of good and on sale items. All sort of toys and items are on display from the smallest to the biggest and from the cheapest to the most expensive.

Here is a quick tour of ToyCon 2016.

Ticket Price

Considering the guests and what you will see inside the event, personally Php500 is a fair deal. ToyCon is already at par with international event and this is still a good price. However compared to previous editions were you have some loots and freebies I think this one is a bit on the negative side. I hope that in the next ToyCon there will be items where the attendees can get for free or that there might be some interactive games in store for us.

Cosplay at ToyCon

The CosFan X Cosplay Competition is a new name but there is nothing new with the competition. The winner well deserved it since they really interacted with the video screen on stage. Damn that Spiderman was really good and it was a pity that we were not able to capture his skit due to dead bat.

What I cannot understand though is the question and answer before the competition which might have caused some of the possible participants to be intimidated, however, I think that segment provided some insight for the judges.

There were fewer cosplay participants this time compared to previous ToyCons as well. As for the group competition, there was no actual competition on stage since there is a declared winner already. If there is one thing to be asked, are there other competitors or did they win by default. The skit was good but I was a bit expectant.

Overall Review

Overall I would give ToyCon 2016 a 7/10 rating. This one seems to be a lot better from the previous ToyCons but there seems to be something missing and I cannot point that out. Perhaps you dear readers can input your opinion on this. As I walk and explore the event it seems there is something which I have experience in the past which is not very prominent in this one.

Cosplayer's Running Man Challenge

Before we end this article we would like to share something that we manage to accomplish during the event. Here is our video of our Cosplayer's Running Man Challenge.

Congratulations to the organizers of ToyCon 2016 and we are all looking forward to the next one. Again thanks for iflix for the invite.